A fib ablation in HFrEF patients gains momentum
EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM HEART RHYTHM 2018
The “signal” of benefit from AF ablation in heart failure patients in CABANA “replicates what was seen in CASTLE-AF. The results are highly consistent and very important regarding how to treat patients with AF and heart failure,” said Jeremy N. Ruskin, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the cardiac arrhythmia service at Massachusetts General Hospital, both in Boston. “The data strongly suggest that catheter ablation is helpful for restoring and preserving [heart] muscle function,” Dr. Ruskin said in a video interview. He noted that AF occurs in at least about a quarter of heart failure patients.
Other cardiologists at the meeting noted that, on the basis of the CASTLE-AF results alone, they have already become more aggressive about treating AF with ablation in patients with heart failure in routine practice.
“It adds to the armamentarium for treatment of patients with heart failure,” said Johannes Brachmann, MD, professor and chief of cardiology at the Coburg (Germany) Clinic and a senior coinvestigator for CASTLE-AF.
